ETSU State of the University: Tennessee Promise didn't contribute to enrollment growth

Since the Tennessee Promise program was implemented two years ago, it seemed plausible that four-year universities across the state would see a large amount of students who received two years of tuition-free community or technical college transfer in this fall semester. That just hasn't been the case, although East Tennessee State University's enrollment increased more than any other university in the former Board of Regents system. During Monday's State of the University address, ETSU President Brian Noland shared preliminary census figures, pulled from Sept. 10, that showed ETSU's head count increased 2.6 percent and its full-time equivalency increased 3.2 percent compared to last year. "Many have thought that we'd see a large enrollment uptick as a result of those Promise transfer rates. ... The enrollment growth that occurred at this institution occurred as a result of a strategic plan we put into place to grow enrollment," Noland said. "For those institutions who rested on their laurels and thought Promise would save the day, that was a fool's hope."Part of that strategic plan, which boosted enrollment, included internal institutional changes, such as adjusting policies, procedures and processes, Noland said. Austin Peay State University's 1.7 percent increase and The University of Memphis's 1.1 percent were just behind ETSU, while Tennessee State University and Tennessee Tech University both experienced enrollment decreases. "What Promise has done is to drive student success and to increase the number of students graduating from community college. It has not increased the number of students en masse transferring to universities," Noland said. "It has been successful. More students are going to college. More students are realizing their aspirations and receiving degrees and certificates that prepare them for the work force. But our ability to grow as a university is not predicated on Promise. Our ability to grow as a university is predicated on the initiatives that we implement here on campus."Regardless of its strides, Noland said enrollment remains "fluid," as projections indicated the school would be down 250 students. "This is a major accomplishment. If you look at our percentage change in comparison to other institutions in the state, you can see we look very different than other universities," the president said. This year's incoming fall freshman class, making up nearly 15 percent of the student body, certainly factored into the university's growth, as well. After admitting just 1,886 freshman last fall, ETSU recruited 2,050 first-time freshmen for this semester. Noland said it was the largest year-over-year growth of first-time freshmen for any school in the former Board of Regents system. The larger influx of first-time freshmen also didn't result in lower GPA scores and ACT scores. For this fall semester, incoming freshmen's GPA averaged 3.5 and ACT scores averaged 23, nearly identical to last year. "This is important. We grew by a couple hundred students, but we held the line on academic quality within the freshman class," Noland said. "So not only are we getting more students, we're getting students who are better prepared."Despite all the discussion in Washington, D.C., over immigration, Noland said he was surprised to see the number of international students remain steady at 626 compared to 646 last year. "All of us are concerned about the conversations that are occurring in Washington regarding immigration. I was concerned those international numbers would move in a much more negative manner than they did," Noland said. With the Tennessee Department of Health's recent approval of the Mountain States Health Alliance and Wellmont merger, Noland said he wasn't surprised to see Virginia Department of Health Commissioner Marissa Levine approve an extension delaying her decision until Oct. 31. "They have to digest, just as we're digesting, all the elements that are contained within the Terms of Certification that's part of the COPA," Noland said. "I'm very hopeful the merger will move through. ... By the two hospitals coming together, it ensures local governance of the local health care system, it ensures those strategic assets and resources are not lost to companies outside of the region and it allows for investments in the public health challenges of our area."Email Zach Vance at zvance@johnsoncitypress.com. Follow Zach Vance on Twitter at @ZachVanceJCP. Like him on Facebook at Facebook.com/ZachVanceJCP.